Egg tester



E. S. HILTON Sept. 21, 1937.

EGG TESTER Filed Sept. 25', 1934 Inbeifir-r Ever-195i 61 171730821,

viii yg Patented Sept. 21, 1937 UNETED STATES EGG TESTER Everett S.Hilton, Belmont, Mass.

Application September 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel and improved egg tester of the classin which the egg to be tested is placed partly within an orifice of achamber within which is a light source and an as- 5 sociated reflectorto concentrate the light rays at a focal point adjacent to the egginspection orifice. The invention will best be understood by referenceto the following description when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing .of one specific embodiment thereof, while itsscope will be pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an egg tester embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the housing;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of an alternative form of Y upright or standardfor supporting the housing;

and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on line 55 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing and to the embodiment of the inventionillustrated therein by way of exainple, there is shown an egg testercomprising a lamp, herein a miniature incandescent bulb 6, having afilament 8 as a light source and said lamp being received in an adapter12 which in turn is received in a standard lamp socket it, all disposedin a generally horizontal position about an optical axis A--A.

Associated with the lamp is a light concentrating reflector [6 providedwith an opening 5 8 about the axis AA, and forward of this opening is anauxiliary reflector Zll placed loosely on and about the neck of thelamp. When this reflector is used in connection with the main reflectorN, there is a maximum reflecting surface for the light rays. If desired,the auxiliary reflector may be removed, in which event the lamp may beretracted rearwardly to a considerable extent as compared with theposition shown in Fig. 5.

Thereflector H3 is suitably mounted in a housing 22 which, in thepresent example, comprises a cylindrical shell 24 to which the reflectoris fastened as by rivets 26. The rear end of the cylindrical shell isclosed by a rear wall 2i, herein conveniently secured in place in theshell as by providing the wall with an inwardly directed flange 23secured as by spot welding to the shell, and this wall is provided withan aperture 3Q through which the neck of the lamp socket i t extends.The lamp socket is conveniently supported on the wall and is adjustablealong the optical axis by providing a clamping collar about 25, 1934,Serial No. 745,414

the lamp socket and comprising collar members 32, each of which isappropriately secured to the wall 2! as by providing the collar memberwith a lug or tab 34 spot welded to the wall. A clamping action of thecollar about the lamp socket is conveniently had by bolts 36 extendingthrough both collar members.

The front end of the housing is provided with a removable cover 38,herein frusto-conical shaped, and appropriately secured to the shell 24as by providing the cover with a rearwardly directed flange d8 about theshell and provided with bayonet slots 42 to receive pins 44 fixedlymounted in the shell 2 and extending outwardly into the slots. As hereinshown, the cover is further secured in place by a small bolt 46extending through the flange and through the shell.

The cover is provided with an egg inspecting aperture it about theoptical axis AA, and to insure a snug fit of the egg in the orificewithout danger of cracking the shell, the orifice herein is lined with asoft cushioning ring 58 which in this example is molded of rubber withinner and outer flanges 52 and 5tand may be snapped into place byflexing the inner flange. The shape of the reflecting surface, thelocation of the lamp and the location of the egg inspection orifice aresuch that the light rays are brought to a focal point adjacent to andpreferably within said orifice, though the focal point may be variedwithin reasonable limits by moving the lamp along the optical axis.

The reflector it is partly cut away below the optical axis to provide adownwardly directed aperture 56 and the shell 24 of the housing is cutaway to provide a similar aperture 58. This feature achieves twodesirable results, first to prevent light rays from being directedupwardly through the inspection aperture into the eyes of the inspector,and second to provide for the downward passage of light rays. toilluminate the eggs in a case below the housing. The lamp housing may besupported either on the egg case or on a convenient bench or othersupport as by the use of an appropriate upright or standard. As shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the support comprises a Ushaped clip iii; to embrace asupport such as a partition or end wall 62 (shown in dotted lines) of anegg case and to this clip an upright or post 86 is suitably secured asby providing the post with a horizontally directed portion 66 spotwelded to the clip. To enable the housing to be tilted about thehorizontal axis the housing is conveniently attached to the post as bybrackets 68 spot welded onto the housing and receiving between them theupper end of the post, while bolt 10 passing through the brackets andthrough the post is provided with a wing-nut 12 to draw the lower endsof the brackets together, thereby to clamp the post between them.

An alternative support is shown in Fig. 4, in which a tubular post 14mounted on a base 16 receives a vertically slidable rod 18 which may besecured in the desired position as by a thumb screw 80. The upper end ofthis rod is provided with an eye 82 to be placed between the brackets 68and to receive the clamping bolt 10. The base 16 may be secured to abench or other appropriate support.

Having thus described one embodiment of the invention, but withoutlimiting myself thereto, what I claim and desire by Letters Patent tosecure is:

1. In an egg tester, the combination of a lamp, a lamp socket, acontractible clamp about said lamp socket, a housing comprising a rearwall which supports said clamp on the exterior of said housing and whichis provided with an opening through which said lamp socket extends, saidhousing comprising also a front cover provided with an egg inspectionorifice, and a reflector within and supported at its forward portion bysaid housing and about said lamp to concentrate the light rays from saidlamp and to direct them through said orifice, said reflector having anopening through which said lamp socket extends loosely and may beadjusted axially by loosening said clamp.

22. In an egg tester, the combination of a lamp, a lamp socket, acontractible clamp about said lamp socket, a housing comprising a rearwall which supports said clamp on the exterior of said housing and whichis provided with an opening through which said lamp socket extends, saidhousing comprising also a front cover provided with an egg inspectionorifice, and main and auxiliary reflectors within said housing and aboutsaid lamp to concentrate the light rays from said lamp and to directthem through said orifice,

said main reflector being secured at its forward portion to andsupported by said housing, and said auxiliary reflector being supportedby said lamp.

3. In an egg tester, the combination of a lamp, a lamp socket, acontractible clamp about said lamp socket, a housing comprising a rearwall which supports said clamp on the exterior of said housing and whichis provided with an opening through which said lamp socket extends, saidhousing comprising also a front cover provided with an egg inspectionorifice, and main and auxiliary reflectors within said housing and aboutsaid lamp to concentrate the light rays from said lamp and to directthem through said orifice, said main reflector being secured at itsforward portion to and supported by said housing, and provided with anopening rearwardly of said lamp, and said auxiliary reflector closingthe last-mentioned opening and supported by said lamp.

4. In an egg tester, the combination of means presenting an egginspection orfice in a vertical plane, a concave, light concentratingreflector, an electric lamp, and a lamp socket, all arranged along andabout a generally horizontal axis which is the optical axis of saidreflector, and arranged to cooperate to concentrate light rays and tobring them to a focal point adjacent to said orifice, the wholestructure presenting a single chamber in which said lamp is housed andwith said reflector at one end of said chamber and said inspectionorifice at the opposite end, said reflector having an aperture disposedbelow said axis to provide for the downward dispersion of light raysfrom said lamp and from the upper portion of said reflector and in theline of vision of the inspector when looking through said orifice in thenormal testing position, thereby to eliminate from said egg inspectionorifice rays which would otherwise be reflected by said reflectorupwardly and forwardly through said inspection orifice andtend to strikethe inspector's eye when no egg is at said orifice.

EVERETT S. HILTON.

